The present invention relates to methods of communication in a system for context-aware and real-time tracking (a “tracking system”) of the kind described in commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 60/347,672, filed Jan. 11, 2002, to Peter Ebert, for Context-Aware And Real-Time Tracking; Ser. No. 60/353,198, filed Feb. 1, 2002, to Peter Ebert, et al. for Item Tracking System Architectures and Scenarios; and Ser. No. 60/353,439, filed Feb. 1, 2002, to Peter Ebert, et al. for Unique Per-Item Identification in International Trade; the disclosures of which are incorporated here by this reference.
One of the advantages of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is its use in logistics at the physical object level. Logistics systems work with item tracking systems to monitor automatically items and to update logistical information as needed. The information associated with items in tracking systems typically passes across different software systems and may cross enterprise boundaries. In order to support communications among software systems and enterprises, each item can be associated with a unique identification code (UID). One example of a UID is the electronic product code (ePC) proposed by the MIT-Auto ID Center.